Monero (XMR) Plans for the Second Audit of Bulletproofs+ Code

The Monero development team is now crowdfunding to raise $13.5k in XMR for the second audit of the Bulletproofs+code. The review will be executed by JP Aumasson, a proposal published on Mar 2 shows.

Bulletproofs+ for better Transaction Efficiency in Monero

According to the proposal, Bulletproofs+ will be a drop-in replacement for Bulletproofs that Dr. Sarang Noether is implementing in the C++ programming language. It shall form the base of future improvements in Monero like Triptych.

This will be the second audit after the first was concluded successfully by ZenGo X in February. The second third-party audit by JP Aumasson is to point out weak–if present, and whether further improvements will be required.

What are Bulletproofs+

Bulletproofs+ is new construction of a zero-knowledge proofing system that makes transactions faster, making it faster for wallets to generate, and even quicker for network participants to verify.

Notably, it is an improvement from the various forms of ring signatures adopted by Monero that made the network bloated, subsequently slowing down node synchronization.

Zero-knowledge proofing is core to Monero, making its transactions confidential and giving it an edge over competing platforms. The code is permissively licensed with developers hoping it will find widespread adoption in other privacy-focusing networks.

Privacy in the Age of Mass Surveillance

Monero is powered by a web of distributed developers and nodes, ensuring transactions are obfuscated, maintaining privacy, a sacrosanct right in the age of massive and intrusive surveillance.

Towards that end, and coming amid determination, especially by U.S. tax authorities, developers are further refining and tempering the steel wall that separates Monero from other public chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The immediate goal is to ensure there are no vulnerabilities in the current Bulletproof+ code. If it works as designed, the subsequent upgrade will ensure Monero transactions are secure, lighter, and faster while being efficient.

Oxygen Orion Improvements

In February, the CLI & GUI v0.17.1.9 “Oxygen Orion” was released to fix bugs and enhance performances. Specifically, the release fixed the possibility of attackers exploiting a memory exhaustion vector to compromise the network.

The Monero GUI 0.17.1.7 “Oxygen Orion” was activated in Dec 2020, less than a month after the network upgraded.

Oxygen Orion upgrade introduced a new ring signature construction CLSAG feature, as BTCManager reported.